especially her daughter, the amiable Charlotte, who was growing up far from her mother. She shuddered at the thought of the painful alternative which each day pressed her more strongly: either of being forced to have recourse to England and Spain, or to pledge the jewels that she had reclaimed from La Rochefoucauld.[1] She clung to this rich parure, which is said to have come from Florence, from Marshal D'Ancre, as the brilliant souvenir of happier days; for Madame de Chevreuse was a woman with the weaknesses as well as the charms of her sex, and when passion and honor did not thrust her in the midst of perils, she delighted in all the elegancies of life.[2] It was this mixture of womanly gentleness with masculine energy that formed the most striking trait of her character, and that rendered her fit for every position, as well for the endearments and confidence of love as for the excitement of
- ↑ See, in respect to this, La Jeunesse de Madame de Longueville, third edition, chap, iv., p. 280.
- ↑ Madame de Chevreuse, like her grandson, loved the arts and encouraged them. She was the patroness of the excellent engraver, Pierre Daret, who dedicated to her his collection of the "Illustres Français et estrangers de l'un et de l'autre sexe," in quarto, 1654. This dedication acquaints us with facts that are not to be found in any of the biographies of this artist.
such grandeur and simplicity, such exquisite appreciation of Nature and of Art, as is shown in these beautiful fountains, these magnificent promenades, and this vast library, these admirable family portraits, these paintings, or, rather, splendid sketches of M. Ingres, and this statue in massive silver of Louis XIII., the token of a generous gratitude? And when we reflect that he who has collected all these beautiful things, has devoted his fortune to the public good in every way, that he has given us the steel of Damascus, the ruins of Sélinonte, the history of the house of Anjou à Naples, and the Minerva of the Parthenon; that, during thirty years, he has planted asylums, schools, and hospitals everywhere about him, and encouraged and sustained scholars and artists, being himself one of the first connoisseurs and archæologists of Europe, the friend of a judicious liberty, and favorable to every good, popular cause, we may exclaim, There is one great nobleman, then, still in France!
